Downtown Docks Open In Palm Beach...

YachtForums · Apr 9, 2009

Source: Palm Beach Post (link to story)

Thursday, April 09, 2009 - WEST PALM BEACH

Another facet of West Palm Beach's downtown makeover will be officially unveiled this morning when the ribbon is cut to a 444-foot-long pier along the city's waterfront. The $8 million pier project, the first piece of a waterfront redesign 16 years in the making, opens at 10 a.m., just three weeks ahead of the city's signature end-of-spring event, the SunFest concert series which begins April 29.

Visitors walking to the end of the floating pier will enjoy views of the downtown skyline, the Intracoastal Waterway and its bridges, and the Palm Beach mansions across the way.

West Palm Beach's new beach will sprawl at the foot of the pier, next to the seawall. It won't be for swimming, but it will have sand, beach grasses and other dune plants, a deck and a trellis for shade.

City officials say the beach and the rest of the Waterfront Commons project should be finished by the end of this year. The project includes razing the main library, shifting Flagler Drive a few dozen feet westward and building other amenities leading to Clematis.

The city's aim is to link downtown's business and entertainment districts to the waterfront while attracting commerce from boaters. The makeover includes new docks just north and south of a 30-foot-wide central pier, which is designed to give visitors a sensory transition from urban to waterfront to water, said project manager Joan Goldberg, who spoke last month as the finishing touches were being completed.

"We are a waterfront community," she said. "We are one of few places in the county where a boater can come, tie up and enjoy the amenities ... whether it's shopping, dining or entertainment."

The northern dock, opposite North Clematis Street, and the southern one, opposite the Meyer Amphitheater near Evernia Street, will be open only to boaters.

But the central pier, off South Clematis, is made for strolling. Its floating wooden deck rises and falls imperceptibly with the tides. It features central planters with native flora, and an oyster bed lined with meshing that allows small tropical fish to swim through from the Intracoastal. Curving benches provide a place for downtown workers or tourists to bring lunch.

No docking is allowed along the 75 feet of pier closest to land. That will allow coast-hugging manatees unimpeded passage underneath.

Each of the three docks has state permits that allow 11 boats of any size to dock at a time. The city hopes to win permission eventually for 15 or 16 boats at each dock. The docks are not designed to be all things to all boaters.

There are no facilities for overnight docking, for one thing. And the docks' design, with pilings outside the decking, is more suited to boats from 25 to 60 feet than for mega-yachts, some ships' captains from across the way in Palm Beach note.

Goldberg says mega-yachts can tie up at the private Palm Harbor Marina to the north.
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Yacht News · Apr 9, 2009

Looks nice Carl. Looks like a nice relaxing are rather than a pier for small boats!

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Downtown Docks Open In Palm Beach...

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